Europe's tech landscape is fast changing and full of regional character and local nuances
This week at Web Summit Lisbon, the pan-European initiative Choose Europe unveiled the new Startup Guide – a roadmap for founders exploring where to build and scale across Europe. Choose Europe is a joint European initiative that promotes the continent as a place where innovation, talent, and trust come together. The newly launched Startup Guide showcases this vision – featuring the Greater Zurich Area as Switzerland’s leading robotics hub, where reliability, deeptech excellence, and quality of life make Europe’s promise tangible.
Among the featured voices shaping the continent’s future: Kateryna Portmann from Greater Zurich, whose work in robotics and AI showcases the human drive and reliability that define the Greater Zurich Area.
Kateryna Portmann on Greater Zurich's robotics momentum
Originally from Ukraine, Kateryna Portmann has built an international career spanning Asia, the Middle East, and the UK – founding startups in education and art therapy before finding her home in the Silicon Valley of Robotics, Greater Zurich in Switzerland.
Here, she joined Hocoma, a medtech pioneer developing robotic rehabilitation technologies, and later ANYbotics, an ETH Zurich spinoff whose autonomous legged robots are now deployed globally.
“In Zurich alone, you can walk just a few blocks and see robots being tested in real-world scenarios, from last-mile deliveries to airport inspections.” – Kateryna Portmann
Today, she also leads Women in Robotics Switzerland and serves as the Global Robotics Lead for Women in AI Governance, helping shape how technology and inclusion evolve together.
Kateryna’s perspective captures what makes the Greater Zurich Area unique: a compact yet world-class environment where research, startups, and industry intersect naturally.
"The city attracts top-tier talent from institutions like ETH Zurich and EPFL, and it’s home to major players like NVIDIA, OpenAI and ANYbotics alongside hundreds of startups working at the forefront of robotics and AI." , she elaborated. – Kateryna Portmann
It’s this combination of excellence, collaboration, and reliability that positions Greater Zurich as Europe’s leading robotics and AI destination.
Europe's leading Robotics hub
Europe's leading Robotics hub
The Greater Zurich Area continues to be a global leader in robotics, drone technology and computer vision. There are close ties in the region between the industry, world-class universities and researchers and innovation-friendly authorities. This has driven revolutionary advancements, attracted leading technology firms and talent and encouraged entrepreneurship in the region, leading to unmatched opportunities for robot technology companies.
Greater Zurich's overlooked talent edge
What truly sets Greater Zurich apart, Kateryna says, goes beyond its dense network of world-class researchers, startups, and global tech leaders. It’s the combination of top infrastructure and exceptional quality of life that keeps international talent anchored here.
Her perspective highlights a combination few regions can match:The Greater Zurich Area combines a world-class quality of life that attracts and retains top talent long-term with top transportation infrastructure that connects people and markets across Switzerland and the globe.
It’s this mix of efficiency and humanity that turns the Greater Zurich Area into a genuine magnet for global innovators – a place built for performance and well-being alike where it’s possible to create at the highest level without losing balance or authenticity.
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